WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats this week are planning a vote to extend the nation's borrowing authority through 2014, the latest sign that the focus of the budget impasse is shifting toward preventing a U.S. debt default.

Democrats are still debating their opening bid, but the most likely scenario is to advance a debt-limit bill free of extraneous policy amendments, as President
Barack Obama
has demanded. The bill would put the need for the next debt-limit increase after next year's midterm elections.

House Republicans say they won't pass any such debt-limit extension unless it is accompanied by deficit-reduction measures or other priorities.

The Treasury says the debt ceiling must be raised this month, or else it wouldn't be able to pay all the country's bills. With that prospect approaching, the standoff over increasing the country's borrowing limit has merged with a related impasse over terms for funding the government, so that it can fully reopen.

On Monday, White House officials said they were willing to accept a short-term measure to extend the ceiling, possibly for a few weeks, to allow lawmakers to work out a longer-term resolution. But they said that wasn't their preferred course.

"It is the responsibility of Congress to decide how long and how often they want to vote," White House adviser Gene Sperling said Monday at a breakfast organized by Politico. "The important thing is that they not threaten default."

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A spokesman for House Speaker
John Boehner
(R., Ohio) said that if the White House was open to a short-term increase in the debt ceiling "with accompanying spending cuts and reforms, that is a positive sign." Mr. Obama has said the debt ceiling should be increased before negotiations begin on spending cuts.

House Republican leaders had said in recent weeks that they would pass their own legislation aimed at extending the borrowing authority for one year, which would include GOP priorities such as finishing construction on the Keystone XL pipeline and changes to the new federal health law. But they so far haven't brought a bill to the floor.

The debt discussion played out on the seventh day that the government was partially shut down, as Congress failed to pass a measure funding federal agencies for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Mr. Obama called on Mr. Boehner to allow a House vote on legislation to fund the government that excludes policy riders or attempts to curtail the health law. Mr. Boehner said there aren't enough votes in the House to pass such a bill, but Democrats argue that there are.

"If Republicans and Speaker Boehner are saying there are not enough votes, they should prove it," Mr. Obama said in remarks at the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday. "Let the bill go to the floor, and let's see what happens."

Mr. Boehner said the president should negotiate with GOP lawmakers. "It's time to have that conversation before our economy is put further at risk," he said.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is making a trip to Capitol Hill on Thursday to answer questions about the debt ceiling in front of the Senate Finance Committee, giving Republicans a chance to press him for potential areas of compromise.

Senate Democrats would need 60 votes to advance any debt-ceiling plan if Republicans decide to filibuster. Democratic aides expressed confidence that all 54 Democrats and allied senators would support the bill being considered, but one aide said it might be hard to persuade Republicans to cross party lines until the prospect of the U.S. reneging on some of its obligations is closer.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said he was on the fence about the proposal and wanted to see what else Democrats were offering up. "The markets will not stand for default," Mr. McCain said. "I want it done."

The debt ceiling could resonate in next year's elections. Senate Republicans plan to blast Democrats who support any bill raising the debt ceiling that lacks offsetting measures to trim deficits. Senate Democrats plan to attack Republicans for pressing their fight to delay or alter the health law to the point where the government has been partially shuttered and the debt-ceiling deadline has drawn near.

I find it interesting that the President is incapable of focusing on anything from more then a few days. What happened to Syria? A few weeks ago the President was thinking to send a few dozen cruise missiles to important military sites in Syria to say hello, what's up? Now the focus turns to the cliff hanger of the debt ceiling. The President is playing hardball indoor baseball sticking to his guns on negotiating at the expense of all of us. Some people and media outlets blame the Republicans for this but, let us not forget everyone in the country did not vote for President Obama and as much as he would like to discredit the other 47% of the population because they didn't vote for him this is still a democracy. There is a very good historical reason for the balance of power between the three branches of the US Gov't and as much as the President would like the House and Judiciary to go away so he can get his own way, it's not happening. The President himself has set this up for failure and he alone is to blame.

Obama is a horror. he is a boy with a man's job. I am sick of him and his racist administration..Americans with any intelligence need to stand and be counted we need to not pay penalties or mandated BS and we need to have as many States as possible renounce its allegiance to this nation. It is time to act, not talk this little man has no allegiance to America only to a dictatorship and false and failed society. Stand up he is not a good man he is a failure and yes deceitful lair.

Don't trust him--if you agree for an extension, he'll stick it to you. He lies constantly and without reason. He ignores his sermon when he was a senator, preaching that to raise the debt limit was "unpatriotic". At that time the national debt was under four trillion! Now that we are four times that amount, why can't he get some patriotism? He's failed and refuses to wake up to reality--hold the line and he'll cave.

It's hard to take some of the Tea Party Republicans serious when they rail about run away spending. Rep. King from Iowa represents one of the top congressional districts in terms of Farm Subsidies. Rep. Huelskamp from Kansas is another. Those districts combined raked in $20b in recent years. In addition, Huelskamp's family was "feeding at the trough" to the tune of $3.5m. They make Michelle Bachmann's family farm take of just a few hundred thousand look like a piker. If they were truly concerned about run away spending they should start by moving to repeal Farm Subsidies for millionaire farmers; but they are more concerned about throwing red meat to their minions and keeping their job than they are about cutting down on Federal Spending.

"Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raised the ante in the battle over the Affordable Care Act on Sunday, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley that 'destroying the entire planet is really the best and only way to stop Obamacare.'"

Default , scare tactics, the USA will not default today or next YEAR , and you can take that to the bank........ I guess it turned into a pun ! Obama thinks all the citizens are idiots similar to him, but the only ones are the ones who put him in office, and they are still pointing the finger at everyone but the main IDIOT IN CHARGE !Also any idiot that thinks this will cause a recession is really out in space, there won't be one of those either,any other doom and gloom out there, I hope so I make my money off you people...... LOL

The irresponsibility of democrats has no limits. They want to give to their teen narcissist leader, in the WH a credit card, with an unlimited line of credit to spend more. They don't care about the waste and unnecessary spending. Liberalism is a dreadful ideology which has bankrupted cities and countries. Venezuela is the latest fatality.

Hold on, hold on:First, the executive branch of government is responsible for carrying out the laws of the land. Presently this includes guiding our country when we are only funding essential services, so the executives (Oval Office and Cabinet) must oversee a partial shutdown. It’s the law. The executive branch does NOT have to use this shutdown to punish American citizens because members of the administration do not agree with how laws are being made. Blocking access to monuments that require no admission and no tour guides is clearly an effort to hurt the public in order to draw attention to the fight. This is not the first time. You'll recall the beginning of the sequestered budget cuts. Those measures caused a severe curtailing of the TSA, which caused ridiculous slowdowns at airports. There was no need for this. It was the administration using its authority to create the most harm possible in order to get its way. This is not partisan. This is an indictment of what politics have come to in our nation. When those in power abuse their authority and deliberately harm the public simply to influence legislation, it is time for them to go. Not some of them, all of them. Wipe the slate clean, get fresh people in government. There is never a "convenient" time to clean house, but how can we really fix the system with the cronyism that is the status quo?

Just in case you missed this quote by POTUS, here is an example of his deeply principled stance on the debt ceiling...

StartCongressional record - Increasing the Statutory Limit on the Public Debt

Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.

American has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit

Say, if the govt. is shut down, why are all these people in Washington anyway? Should they not be home watching baseball?

The White House did allow today that they would accept a short term increase in debt ceiling.

Boehner and the TeaPublicans in the meantime have gone from repeal, defund, and delay Obamacare, and now eliminating the tax on medical devices, to having a "conversation" or a discussion, not even a "negotiation" which Obama has clearly ruled out under the threat of a gun to his head. By the way, remember that Boehner was boasting in 2011 that he "got 98% of what [he] wanted" and this is just him holding his breath till he can get the last 2%.

I think Obama and Boehner should have such a conversation. On Pay-per-view TV and sell tickets for $10 each. The global demand to see freedom, free speech, and democracy in action should raise enough money to provide funding for the rest of the year without raising the debt ceiling!

And viewers can vote on their "American idol" and determine who should prevail in this bull_s'it fight!

The term “Debt Limit” is a typical political double-speak for “We cannot budget”. The DEMONcrats are like children that pout until they get their credit card back. The GOVs spending habits will continue to be undisciplined and unrestrained unless FORCED to rein in spending. America is facing a serious debt crises.

"Mr. Obama called on Mr. Boehner to allow a House vote on legislation to fund the government that excludes policy riders or attempts to curtail the health law. Mr. Boehner said there aren't enough votes in the House to pass such a bill, but Democrats argue that there are."

So why doesn't the President call on Harry Reid to do the same in the Senate?

With 200b coming in per month there isn't going to be a default. Stop scaring the folks like was done in 2008. Lew needs to cut govt that's the problem. A compromise would be to allow the debt ceiling to go up with the stipulation that the fed can't buy any more debt. That would force govt to either cut or raise taxes.

Geve me everything I want and maybe I'll negotiate? Really? Interesting starting place but why did the WSJ headline "Administration opens Door" when clearly this is not a negotiation position at all but a simple I won't negotiate statement. I hope the WSJ journalists are a bit more perceptive than that.

Put it to a vote in the Senate Mr. Reid. At the very least, you'll get everyone on record as pro/con US default.

And, if a clean bill were to pass, it would be very interesting to see what happens in the House. Would Boehner dare to allow a clean debt limit bill to come to the floor? Considering that vote counters now say that 15 Republicans are ready to defect and all Democrats are on board for not defaulting, that would be a very risky move for the Speaker.

Or a face-saving way out of an impossible Tea Partisan negotiating position!

'The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.

Leadership means that "the buck stops here."

Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.'

Where do you folks buy your tin foil hats ? Obama ain't being blackmailed by the tea potty lunatics and he certainly won't make any more bargains with the Devil after getting burned last time by Boehner's lies and the sequester. Takes 67 senators to repeal a law and that ain't happening either. For all anyone cares there are more than three years left in his term and the misfits in Congress can shut things down for the whole time. Boehner's got nowhere to turn at this point, but the ignoramus doesn't comprehend that and will continue to leave the country in a jam until his little whining fit is over with. He is done as Speaker and you can take that to the bank. As for you, Mr. Hammer, if you knew how to make money you would not be wasting your time writing drivel to the Murdoch Ministry of Propaganda & Prevarication.

I should have added, that since George w ,made his teary exit, some 100M+Americans earned an average of $25,000 per year,just above the poverty level, about same number today ,its no wonder your fine country is such a mess with an imploding tax base.

Looks like you as a very wealthy person--self described expert on wealth management,will just need to pay more tax,its that simple.

Jairo,If publicly goaded, Boehner could easily have a “mega tantrum”. If described as “stupid”, with such a personality would mount an almost impenetrable intellectual defence. If undermined in front of an audience, with his intellect undermined, Boehner could be prone to “narcissistic rage”.

Boehner seems to me to be self-centred two-year-old in an adult body. Prone to wanting everything – now! If not, then he has a two year-old’s tantrum.

You mentioned cities gone bust a whole sad list in the USA.

On the eve of George w teary exit this mess left behind.

“In 2008, 91.6 million people—more than 30 percent of the nation’s population—fell below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. More individuals lived in families with incomes between 100 and 200 percent of poverty line (52.5 million) than below the poverty line (39.1 million) in 2008. Between 2000 and 2008, large suburbs saw the fastest growing low-income populations across community types and the greatest uptick in the share of the population living under 200 percent of poverty.”http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2010/01/20-poverty-kneebone#

I like the idea of increasing the debt limit for 3 months, but the law would include provisions that require the Treasury to prioritize debt and interest payments in the future. This would take the "default" threat off the table for the next round of debt limit discussions.

“He also showed an affinity for Ron Paul, a former Texas congressman and presidential candidate for the Libertarian and Republican parties. Ulbricht told The Daily Collegian, the Penn State student newspaper, for a story about a Paul campus visit in 2008: “There's a lot to learn from him and his message of what it means to be a U.S. citizen and what it means to be a free individual.”

GOP leadership like this? Mauricio.A GOP aspirant truly inspired by GOP mantra set up the Ebay of dugs destroyed the life’s of ten of thousands of people and brought misery to their families .“PSU grad accused of orchestrating $1.2B in illegal drug sales on secret Web network”

“He also showed an affinity for Ron Paul, a former Texas congressman and presidential candidate for the Libertarian and Republican parties. Ulbricht told The Daily Collegian, the Penn State student newspaper, for a story about a Paul campus visit in 2008: “There's a lot to learn from him and his message of what it means to be a U.S. citizen and what it means to be a free individual.”

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